Lifestyle Design: My Weeklongs Project

I have a new personal project over the next few months I’m calling Weeklongs. It’s more a less an exercise in Lifestyle Design. The gist is that I’m going to engage in a different experimental activity/practice every week for at least 5 days in a given week. Activities will range from playing a sport to talking to strangers to calling people I haven’t spoke to in a long time…the list goes on. At the end of each week I’m going to share my observations here.

Dude, Why Are You Doing This?

I’m a firm believer that our experiences shape our perceptions. Nothing effects the lens through which we view the world more. Why then, do we often take a haphazard approach to experience? We treat it as something that happens as a matter of circumstance or convenience, rather than as a direct input that shapes how we view the world and thus, how we lead our lives.

The logic below which is primarily taken from the Accidental Creative makes a lot of sense to me and inspired this project:

The larger the pool of experience we draw from, the more enlightened we will be. Not only will more experiences yield a deeper understanding of the world around us, but also greater insight into our personal preferences. Hence, by intentionally building fun, unique and challenging experiences into my life, I will push myself to see the world in new ways while getting to know myself to a greater degree.

Ultimately, I’m hoping this opens my eyes up in places where they’ve been closed. If these little experiments result in behavior change, great! If not, I can move forward with greater confidence that I’m living the best way I know how.

A key element of this project is the structure surrounding experience. Because I have defined the activities I’m “testing”, I can focus my thinking around them. I can thoroughly explore each experience and analyze aspects I may have missed in a haphazard setting. Hopefully this will illuminate pathways of unexplored insight.

First stop (which started Monday) – choosing 5 things to donate or throw out each day. A full report coming soon…..

Side note – I’m giving myself permission to skip a week here and there if I feel like it. I’m human and this project is meant to be fun, not a burden.